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Ben Kotwica joins Los Angeles in 2025 as assistant special teams coach after spending the last two seasons as the Denver Broncos special teams coordinator.

Kotwica has 17 years of NFL coaching experience across six teams, most recently with the Denver Broncos. He joined the Broncos after one season as assistant special teams coach for Minnesota in 2022. He also spent time with Atlanta Falcons (2019-20), Washington Commanders (2014-18) and the New York Jets (2007-13).

Kotwica helped the Broncos stay near the top of the special team ranks in the NFL in 2024 as they finished the season first in punt return average (15.7), sixth in field goal percentage (91.2 percent), 10th in net yards per punt (42.2), and 10th in opponent punt return average (8.7). Under Kotwica, the team recorded their highest kick return average (28.0), second-highest punt return average (15.7), third-highest field goal percentage (92.1 percent), and third-highest net yards per punt (42.2) in franchise history.

In 2023, Kotwica led the transformation of a Broncos special teams unit that ranked near the top of the league in multiple categories. They ranked first in punt return average (16.3), second in opponent punt return average (6.3), eighth in kickoff return average (24.9), and ninth in opponent kickoff return average (21.5). The special teams unit also had one of its best seasons in franchise history finishing the season first in yards per punt return (16.3), tied for second in field goals made (30), third in field goal percentage (88.2 percent), sixth in yards per punt (46.3), sixth in yards per kickoff return (24.9), and tied for seventh in punts inside the 20-yard line (27). Kotwica oversaw the development of kick returner Marvin Mims Jr., who was named an Associated Press All-Pro kick returner (first-team) and a Pro Bowler for a second consecutive season. He led the NFL in yards per punt return with 16.7 and became the first Broncos player to lead the NFL in punt-return average since Rick Upchurch in 1982. As a rookie, he was an Associated Press All-Pro Second-Teamer as a kick returner and made his first career Pro Bowl after he averaged 16.4 yards per punt return and 26.5 yards per kickoff return.

In 2024, K Wil Lutz tied the franchise record for the most made field goals in a season with 31, joining Jason Elam (1995 and 2001). His five made field goals from 50-or-more yards were a single-season career-high and his 91.2 field goal percent was the second-highest single-season total of his career.

In his lone season with the Vikings in 2022, Kotwica helped coach a unit that posted top-10 rankings in kickoff return average (25.6) and opponent punt return average (7.7). Under Kotwica's guidance, long snapper Andrew DePaola earned Associated Press All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors for the first time in his career. Among eligible kickoff returners, RB Kene Nwangu posted the NFL's fifth-highest kickoff return average (26.3) and totaled 35 returns for 920 yards with one touchdown. His 920 kickoff return yards and 26.3 yards per kickoff return were the highest by a Viking since running back Cordarrelle Patterson registered 1,019 kickoff return yards in 2015 and a 31.7 kickoff return average in 2016.

Prior to the Vikings, Kotwica spent two years (2019-20) with the Falcons as the team's special teams coordinator. He oversaw a unit that led the NFL with five fumble recoveries in 2019, the most by a team in a single season since the New York Giants (five) in 2012. K Younghoe Koo was named to his first career Pro Bowl after the 2020 season after he tallied single-season career-highs in made field goals (37) and field goal percentage (94.9 percent).

Spending five seasons as special teams coordinator for Washington from 2014-18, Kotwica guided a unit that posted the fifth-fewest kickoff return yards against (2,970) and tied for seventh in gross punt average (45.7). During the 2017 season, Washington surrendered 18.7 yards per kickoff return, the second-lowest average in the league that season.

During his seven seasons with Atlanta and Washington (2014-20), Kotwica's special teams units recorded two kickoff returns for touchdowns (tied for the second-most in the NFL) and five total scores on special teams (tied for the fifth-most in the NFL).

He started his NFL coaching career in 2007 with the New York Jets where he was a part of the coaching staff for seven seasons from 2007-13. He began his tenure as a defensive/special teams quality control coach (2007-08) before he was promoted to assistant special teams coach (2009-12) and then special teams coordinator (2013). As special teams coordinator for the Jets in 2013, Kotwica's unit ranked 12th in the league in opponent kickoff return average (22.3). K Nick Folk posted one of his best single seasons in 2013 under Kotwica when he totaled the second-most made field goals (33) in his career and tied for 10th in the league in field goal percentage (91.7 percent). In six years (2007-12) as an assistant on the Jets' staff, Kotwica helped coach a special teams unit that recorded 10 combined kickoff and punt return touchdowns, tied for the most in the AFC and second most in the NFL in that span. The Jets also ranked first in kickoff return average (24.6) and fourth in kickoff return yards (8,705).

Before working his way to the NFL, Kotwica served as defensive coordinator for the United States Military Academy Prep School from 2005-06. His start in coaching came nine years after he concluded his collegiate career, where he played linebacker for Army from 1993-96.

Kotwica is a decorated officer who spent eight years in the United States Army after graduating from the United States Military Academy at West Point. His military career includes operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Korea, and Iraq. Commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Aviation Branch of the Army, Kotwica was selected to fly the AH-64 Apache Longbow, the world's top attack helicopter. He was an Attack Helicopter Platoon Leader in support of the 82nd Airborne Division from 1998-2001, where he was responsible for the health and welfare of 20 soldiers. A nominee for the NFL's Salute to Service Award in 2022, Ben Kotwica is a native of Tinley Park, Ill.